Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire publicly challenged the University of Texas and coach Steve Sarkisian to schedule a Week 1 football game after Sarkisian made critical comments about a Texas team’s schedule during the Houston Touchdown Club event on August 11 [1, 2].
Sarkisian said, "There's a team in our state that plays in another conference that has a schedule that I would argue if I played with our twos and our threes, we could go undefeated, and they'll probably make the CFP this year," implying that the team had a weak schedule but could still make the College Football Playoff (CFP) [1]. He did not name Texas Tech explicitly, but McGuire responded, "I would think if he was talking about us, he would call us out and not just say this comment of ‘Well, there’s another team in our state.’ So I guess he was talking about us" [2].
Both Texas and Texas Tech have Week 1 games currently scheduled against Texas State and Abilene Christian, respectively. McGuire said both opponents are willing to buy out of those contracts to enable a Texas vs. Texas Tech matchup. He added, "We're willing to buy our contract out of ACU. I'm sure because Texas has got a lot of money, they can buy their contract out, but I do know there's a lot of Red Raiders that could help them buy that contract out if they don't want to, and they can come to Lubbock in Week 1 and figure out if their twos and threes can win this conference" [1].
McGuire also stated a major booster had contacted Texas Longhorns' Stephen Jones to arrange the game, and Texas Tech is open to hosting or playing at AT&T Stadium to make it happen [1].
Last season, Texas went 9-3, narrowly missing the College Football Playoff despite wins over multiple top-10 teams starting in October [1, 3]. Texas Tech won the Big 12 in 2025 and earned the No. 4 seed with a first-round bye, but lost 23-0 to Oregon in the Orange Bowl [1]. Texas’s 2026 schedule includes tough opponents such as Ohio State, UTSA, Texas State, Tennessee, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma [3].
Despite McGuire’s challenge, Texas Longhorn leadership and commentators have dismissed the likelihood of the game happening. They consider accepting the matchup unwise given the added difficulty to an already challenging schedule [3]. One comment cited the risk of worsening Texas’ strength of schedule as a reason to decline.
The recent developments followed Sarkisian’s remarks on August 11 and McGuire’s challenge the next day. On August 17, commentators reiterated doubts about the game ever taking place [1, 2, 3].
